A man from Saddleworth became the first person to run the entire 200 miles of the GM Ringway challenge over the bank holiday in an impressive effort to raise money for a cause close to his heart.
As a neuro-physiotherapist, Colin Green, from Greenfield, helps people living with brain injuries or conditions like Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis at his practice, Physio Matters Neurological in Oldham.
The 53-year-old ultra-runner then decided to take on the mega 200-mile-long walking trail in one go, which goes through all 10 boroughs of Greater Manchester, in a bid to raise vital funds for Day One Trauma Support, a charity which supports survivors of major traumatic injuries.
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He set off at 8am on Friday, May 3 from Greenfield station - the start of Stage 8 of the GM Ringway trial which is only a matter of 400 metres from his house - and completed the task at 8.12pm on Monday (May 6).
In order to take on the challenge, Colin only slept for eight hours in total across the three days - two on the first night near Bromley Cross in Bolton, three and a half on Saturday night near Irlam in Salford and two and a half in Poyton on Sunday.
He then continued non-stop throughout the last leg of Sunday before making it back to Greenfield station, covering the full 200 miles in 84 hours and 12 minutes and running through a variety of landscapes, parks, waterways and countryside.
His wife, Jane, supported him throughout the gruelling expedition, helping him swap his night and day packs and supplying him with meals, sugary and salty snacks, gels and drinks throughout.
Friends and family members helped Colin throughout the journey (Image: Roz Hughes)
It's not the first time Colin has covered long distances while running, having completed other ultras including the 268-mile Spine Race along the Pennine Way, the 215-mile Race Across Scotland twice and the 200-mile Ultra Great Britain.
However, his completion of the GM Ringway makes him the first person to have ever completed the trail while running.
Colin said: "The pace was slow which was key to me completing this, and I often walked up and down hills.
"On average I did four miles an hour - and I even managed to stop at a few cafes along the way.
"It was a long, lonely slog at times. I did have friends meet me at some of the stages which gave me a real boost.
“The GM Ringway is still a new walking trail so nobody had tackled the whole thing non-stop before, so I wanted to give it a go and it’s great to be the first.
"I hope others will now try and beat my time."
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The keen runner said the last stage from Broadbottom to Greenfield was the "hardest" and despite suffering some pain, he is already remarkably planning his next ultra run.
He added: "You go to the Chew Valley reservoir then drop down to Chew Plantation before ending up near the squash club and back to Greenfield station and then I went straight to bed.
"I was lucky that the temperature was fairly mild for the time of year.
"The weather was mainly fine and not too hot. It rained heavily on the Friday night and Monday evening but at least that kept me cool.
"My feet are very sore and I struggled with pain in my ankles, but I’m now planning to do the Spine Race again in a few weeks’ time.”
Andrew Read, GM Ringway project lead, said: “We designed this trail to help promote the joys of walking to local people.
"What Colin has achieved is very impressive.
"The stages vary in difficulty, with some easily accessible and fairly flat, and others hilly and more challenging.
"The landscape is surprisingly varied, meaning that no two stages are the same.
"Some can be tough to walk let alone run, so hats off to Colin and any other ultra-runners who take this on.”
The GM Ringway project is led by two charities, CPRE, the countryside charity and The Ramblers (Greater Manchester and High Peak Area), and is supported by a £250,000 heritage fund grant.
In addition, the project has also received a £2,000 grant from Rambles Holidays Charitable Trust and a further £10,000 from Transport for Greater Manchester's Cycle and Stride for Active Lives initiative.
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